Inner Demons, Part 2: Critical Mass
by Alryssa
Summary: (follows on from pt 1) Turing System. A late-night argument between Robin and Perl leads to a devastating chain of events..
1. Default Chapter

Inner Demons, Pt 2: Critical Mass  
by Timesprite & Alryssa  
  
Set: A few seconds (days) after Inner Demons, Pt 1.   
  
(Rated PG-13. This story deals with adult themes. Please proceed with maturity.)  
"Robin?"  
  
Perl walked through the Principal Office's main garage in search of her friend. It was getting late in the second - most of the staff had already gone home to their families. Only the night shift and those who had no one to go home to remained.   
  
"Robin?" she called again.  
  
"In here." Her friend's voiced drifted from one of the adjacent, smaller rooms. Perl followed the sound and found Robin bent over a heavily damaged CPU, eyeing its innards with a look of disgust.  
  
"No luck?"  
  
"Salvaged parts, maybe." She kicked the hulk in annoyance and straightened up, towering over Perl at her full height. She wiped her hands on a rag and tossed it on a nearby bench. "Something the matter?"  
  
"Nope. My staff's just all gone home an' for once there's nothing that needs fixing. Thought I'd see what you were up to."  
  
Robin gave Perl an incredulous look. Their friendship was a tenuous one at best, reliant mostly on both women's obstinacy and respective damage.   
  
"Where's Dennis?"  
  
Perl scowled. Robin took every opportunity to take jabs at her relationship with the Command.Com - out of envy maybe, she didn't know.  
  
"Working late. Again."  
  
Robin snorted. "What else is new."  
  
"Look, I was just wonderin' if *maybe* you wanted to go out for a drink. If not, I'll just go home, but I thought I'd extend the offer."  
  
Robin eyed the smaller woman for a long moment, before grudgingly agreeing.  
  
* * *  
  
The bar wasn't in the best sector of the system; but it was the only one open this late in the second. The two sprites ordered their drinks and settled in a corner, Robin putting her booted feet up on the table as she produced a pad and began perusing a technical readme file, Perl opting to sit with her back against the wall, assessing the bar crowd - such as it was - with a critical, somewhat wary eye.   
  
"I thought you wanted to relax," Robin murmured, not looking up from the pad. She was well aware of the second looks in their direction, but chose not to acknowledge their presence. They'd get bored soon enough.   
  
Perl frowned at the Guardian. "You're staring at schematics again. Don't lecture me on relaxing. Do you ever do anything else?"  
  
Robin downed the contents of the shot glass before responding. "It beats having to pull your ASCII out of the fire."  
  
Perl snorted. "I can take care of myself."  
  
A raised eyebrow, as she refilled her glass. "So you keep telling me."  
  
Amethyst eyes narrowed. "I can take care of myself," she repeated.   
  
Robin's face remained impassive. "I thought you said you were here to relax."  
  
"I am!"  
  
The pair drank in silence for a few nanos. Perl barely registered the battered jukebox in the opposite corner, churning out obscure mp3's. Robin wasn't much of a conversationalist. Every topic became a battle, almost always descending into awkward silence or veiled insults. She wasn't sure she could call herself friends with the abrasive Guardian; it was more an acquaintance based on mutual respect of each other's personal space, and a need for company.   
  
Perl sometimes wondered if Robin even wanted that much, as she rested her head in one hand and watched her poring over the readme files, in her own world as usual. Around them, the bar's less-than-savoury customers exchanged glances and spoke in lowered tones. She knew what they were talking about, but tried to ignore it.  
  
"I should have stayed at the Principal Office," she muttered, reminded of her boyfriend's workaholism.   
  
Robin glanced up from the pad. "I never said I was good company," she replied, but turned off the device anyway and eyed the cadet with a slightly guarded expression on her face. "I'm assuming you're about to launch into the usual rant about Dennis?"  
  
Perl scowled, as she pulled her dark purple hair from its ponytail. Robin simply sighed, and rolled her brown eyes. She'd guessed right.   
  
"What do you *want* me to talk about?" Perl shot back, irritatedly. "How much code I had to hack this morning to get the security grid back online? How many times I told the idiots on second shift to log off their workstations before leaving?"  
  
"If it means I don't have to listen to you whining about Dennis not paying enough attention to you again, go right ahead."  
  
"You're jealous," she snapped.   
  
Robin looked amused. "Oh, yeah. I'm jealous of you. Give me a break. You've got someone who cares about you and all you do is moan."  
  
"At least I've told Dennis I care about him. It's more than you ever did for Bob."  
  
Perl regretted the words the nano they came out of her mouth, and flinched, knowing what was coming next. The Guardian froze, and stared at her, cold fury burning in her dark brown eyes.   
  
"Robin, I'm so sorry..." She'd overstepped the bounds and she knew it.  
  
Robin set the glass down, her gaze never wavering. Perl bit her lip, as the tall sprite stood.   
  
"I'm going home," she said, with some considerable effort. The hacker closed her eyes, knowing that she may well have ruined in that brief moment the one friendship she'd had.  
  
"Please, Robin, I'm sorry..."  
  
But the Guardian had already gone.   
  
Perl could suddenly feel the staring eyes of the bar flies burning into her like branding irons.  
  
* * *  
  
Perl muttered under her breath, wishing she hadn't started the tiff in the bar with Robin. She could have used a ride home. Most of the street lamps were out in Backup, and the little light that did exist cast strange shadows all around her. She also fervently wished she hadn't left her gun back at the Principal Office. Something stirred in the dark and a shiver crawled its way up her spine, heart leaping into her throat.   
  
"Stop being an idiot," she muttered to herself. "There are no viruses left in the system."  
  
"It's not the viruses you need to worry about, hacker," a voice hissed as a form melted out of the shadows, grabbing her and clamping a hand over her mouth. "No, you'll have much worse things to worry about..."  
  
She tried to scream, but the hand stayed clamped firmly over her mouth. She kicked furiously, but her captor didn't give an inch, dragging her back down the alleyway. There were other voices laughing, voices she recognised from the bar, though she couldn't make out faces in the darkness.   
  
"What'd ya say I teach her just whose system this is, huh?" her captor called out. There were jeers and taunts from the others, and she found herself shoved roughly against the ally wall. She tried to jerk away as his hands pulled at her clothing, but he slammed her head against the wall, causing what little sight she had in the near-pitch ally to swim dangerously. A knife pressed against her neck, and she froze, biting back a strangled sob.   
  
"That's right. Not a sound, hacker," he spat, throwing as much contempt behind the word as he could. "This will teach you. You and the Command.Com. He'll see what he gets for shacking up with a worthless whore like you."   
  
Clothing was shoved away roughly and she swallowed hard, dread and fear overwhelming her. She knew all too well what was coming next.  
  
* * * 


	2. Chapter 2

II  
"Perl? ...Perl!"  
  
The hacker's head jerked up, a startled look on her face. "...yeah?" she asked finally, giving her boyfriend a blank look.  
  
"I was going to ask if you had the reports from the overnight routine we ran on the P.O.'s systems." He walked over and rested a hand on her shoulder, a frown crossing his face as she flinched. "You okay? You were late this morning. That's not like you."   
  
"Slept through my alarm," she mumbled, not looking at him. "Sorry."  
  
"It's not a big deal. I just worry about you living alone in Backup. It's really not the best sector in the system."   
  
He reached out and brushed her hair out of her face - noting that discrepancy as well - Perl *always* pulled her hair back while working. With all the machinery she worked around, it was simply a smart precaution. His frown returned, and he cupped her chin in his hand, tilting it slightly. With the change in lighting, he could see definite traces of bruising on her face, though it was hard to see given how dark her skin was to begin with.   
  
"What happened to your face?"  
  
She jerked her head out of his hand. "Got in an argument at the bar last night," she snapped. "Not a big deal, okay? Doesn't even hurt much."  
  
Dennis sighed. "Are you *sure* you're okay?"  
  
"Why wouldn't I be?"  
  
At her shout, several heads swiveled in their direction. Dennis took her by the arm and dragged her off to a more secluded corner.   
  
"Because you're not *acting* okay, Perl."  
  
"I'm fine," she hissed, jerking away from him. "What do you care anyway? You were perfectly happy to ditch me in favor of work last night. I had to go entertain myself."  
  
Dennis winced slightly. "I'm *sorry*, Perl. It's just that things came up and-"  
  
"And couldn't wait. Like always." She turned away, hugging herself slightly as if suddenly cold. "Just... leave me alone."   
  
"Fine. For now. We'll talk about this later."  
  
"No, we won't." Without another word, she turned on her heel and left the room.   
  
Dennis leaned his head back against the wall, heaving a sigh of frustration. Perl could be temperamental at the best of times; downright hostile when they were on particularly bad terms, but this was different. She'd seemed more skittish than anything else, and that was patently unlike her. For all her fears and anxieties, Perl was a master at not letting them show.   
  
He mulled over the options in his head, wondering if there were any way to find out just what had happened the previous night, when an idea hit him. If she'd gone to a bar, she wouldn't have gone alone - Perl avoided being alone in public establishments like the plague, always aware that a good percentage of the population still held a deep-seated animosity towards a hacker they felt had no business being in their system. She would have taken someone with her - and since it hadn't been him, there was really only one other sprite she was remotely close to.   
  
Like it or not, he was going to have to talk to Robin.  
  
* * *  
  
"So what is it this time?"   
  
The zero binome hopped out of the sputtering CPU. "It keeps making a gurgling sound when I try to get up over 85 revs. That, too," he added, as he saw the Guardian's reaction to the CPU's engine noise.   
  
Robin rolled her eyes. Like the maintenance bay wasn't backed up enough already! Turing had lost a lot of hardware in the viral war, and there just weren't enough mechanics to deal with the backlog of damaged vehicles as a result; never mind recurring problems (or, she mentally added, recurring bad drivers). She turned to survey the status of the maintenance bay.  
  
"Just give me a few nanos and I'll have bay four clear," she sighed. "It probably needs its fuel injectors flushed. Again."   
  
"Where should I -"  
  
"Just leave it there!" she snapped. "And if I see this heap again, I'm going to-"  
  
A vidwindow rudely interrupted her rant. The binome used the opportunity to make himself scarce. She turned to the source of the sound, annoyance etched on her scarred face.   
  
"Yes, what is it?"  
  
Dennis raised an eyebrow at the Guardian. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"  
  
Robin's expression turned to one of mild surprise. She hadn't expected the Command.com to page her, of all people. Not unless it was critically important. She curbed her frustration and adopted a less hostile posture, resting her hands on her hips.  
  
"It's always a bad time around here," she replied. "But I gather this isn't a social call."  
  
He looked somewhat edgy, she noticed. It took a lot to fluster him; the master of being in control. She frowned. Everything about this said 'problem'. Dennis ran a hand nervously through his hair before continuing.  
  
"Did you, ah... have an argument with Perl last night?"  
  
It was Robin's turn to raise an eyebrow. "We're always arguing. Not that it's any of your business."  
  
"It becomes my business when my girlfriend shows up at the Principal Office the next morning with bruises on her face."  
  
Robin narrowed her eyes at the Command.com. "Excuse me?"  
  
"I want to know what happened."  
  
She paused, processing this information. Then she looked at him warily. "You... you think *I* did that?"  
  
Dennis made a conciliatory gesture. "I'm just asking you what happened."  
  
She glared at him. "I'm a lot of things, Dennis. But I'm not a bully. Yes, Perl and I had a... disagreement... last night. But I didn't have reason to lay a finger on her."   
  
Dennis nodded. "Then I suppose the next question is... who did?"  
  
* * *  
  
*I shouldn't have walked out on her last night*.  
  
Robin chided herself as she made her way to Backup. Her initial anger at Dennis' implied accusation earlier had faded, but now she was busy being angry at herself. She'd let Perl get under her skin, and typically, the one time the hacker had needed her, she hadn't been there. Hadn't that been the main reason she'd stayed in Turing to begin with? To stop the rioting, to protect Perl's position despite the dissent?   
  
*I failed. I let her down...*  
  
She stopped at Perl's apartment door, staring at it, through it.  
  
*I've screwed up. I had my chance, and I've blown it. Bob would-*   
  
She halted the thought; closed her eyes. She had to stop thinking about him, spammit. But it seemed lately that was all she *could* do. She couldn't help but note the irony of the reversed position she found herself in; a similar situation that had had Perl at her own door just a cycle ago. The Guardian paused. She wasn't sure just how to talk to Perl about this. She'd never been good at expressing herself verbally, and this was going to require some real work on her part to get the story out of her. She sighed, and tried a knock at the door.   
  
Waited.  
  
No response.  
  
She hadn't really expected an answer, but she'd hoped she wouldn't have to resort to breaking the door; in this sector of the system, it wasn't a good idea to be without a locked front entrance for any length of time. She'd overheard binomes crack jokes about CPU's being stripped for parts and left on databricks. She balled a hand into a fist and pounded the door.   
  
"Perl! Open up!"  
  
Her voice echoed harshly around the building's corridors. The dilapidated building's sagging structure only served to add to the despairing atmosphere. Robin's skin crawled. She could almost swear her paranoia had become some sort of savage animal, stalking her from the multitude of shadows. She swallowed; cast a furtive glance over her shoulder. Nobody was there, as she'd suspected. Still; this place made her distinctly nervous. She had one option left. She stepped back from the door, and raised her arm.   
  
"Drake - skeleton key!"  
  
The keytool chittered and whirred at her, then morphed into the requested object. A matter of a split-nano, and the door irised open.  
  
Robin blinked as the door spiralled closed behind her, her eyes readjusting from the darkness of the corridor. The apartment was, in stark contrast, brightly lit; bringing the spartan furnishings into sharp relief. Robin glanced around the small living room. No sign of Perl; but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the cadet's PID lying on the small java table. She made her way across the room and picked the icon up, turning it over in her hand, a concerned frown on her face.   
  
"Perl? Are you OK?" she called out.   
  
Then she heard it - the sound of running water. Robin relaxed somewhat. She'd just caught her at a bad time. So much for Dennis getting worked up. Most likely Perl had just been caught in a skirmish and suffered a few bruises for her trouble. Still, she figured she'd wait a few nanos for her to emerge and check on her to be sure.   
  
Robin sat on the couch and waited.  
  
* * * 


	3. Chapter 3

III  
/Make it stop... make the hurting stop... please, I just want to go home... I'm sorry - /   
  
"No!"  
  
Robin's eyes flew open as she sat bolt upright, gasping for breath as she reoriented herself. *Calm down*, she told herself. *It was just a bad dream... Dream? Spammit! I wasn't supposed to fall asleep!* She shook her head, trying to literally shake the images from her mind, and then checked the time. It'd been considerably longer than a few nanos. She swore as she stood, rubbing the crick in her neck. It was then she realised that the water was still running. She narrowed her eyes, and made her way to the bathroom door.   
  
"Perl? Are you OK in there? Perl!"  
  
There was no answer save for the steam rising from underneath the door. Robin grasped the handle, desperation setting in. It was locked. "Perl! Open up!" she yelled. "Cursors..."   
  
She couldn't waste any more time, especially if Perl was in trouble. She braced herself, and threw her full body weight against the door. The bathroom door was not as well weighted as the front, and surrendered easily to the Guardian's brute force. Robin regained her balance, and as she looked up, she saw Perl.   
  
Or rather, Perl's back. She was sitting on the floor of the shower, huddled against the wall; her long purple hair clinging to her sodden, bare skin. The cadet hadn't even registered the Guardian's unorthodox entry, her face obscured as the water rained down on her relentlessly. Robin instinctively looked away, mumbling an apology, embarrassed at seeing her usually confident companion so vulnerable; but after a nano, she realised the young sprite hadn't moved, and glanced nervously back at her.  
  
Then she saw them; saw the bruises, the welts, scattered all over her small body. This had been more than Perl getting caught in the crossfire, she thought grimly. As she stood awkwardly at the door, she could hear something else above the sound of the running water.   
  
Perl was sobbing.   
  
Anger and frustration welled up inside the Guardian. Who had done this? Why hadn't she been there to stop it? Why had she let her own interests take precedence over her duty? She fought down the bubble of hate, and tried to focus. Perl was hurting. She needed help; but she wasn't sure how to give it.   
  
"Perl, it's me," she said, her voice unusually soft. "Perl," she said again, a little firmer. "I need to know what happened last night."  
  
She waited, but the cadet still seemed oblivious to her presence. Robin sighed. She wouldn't talk to Dennis, what in the Net made him think she'd talk to her? She turned to leave.  
  
"Don't go. Please. Don't go..."   
  
Robin froze, surprised at the cadet's sudden outburst. She turned; Perl's back was still facing her. She bit her lip, then carefully placed the cadet's PID on the counter and approached her, reaching over the huddled woman's body to turn off the water. As the streams trickled to a stop, Robin grabbed a towel and held it out to her, averting her gaze again. She heard Perl sniffing, felt her take the towel from her outstretched hand. She waited until she heard her step out of the shower, then turned back to face her.  
  
"Perl, I... "  
  
She trailed off, finally making eye contact with the sullen sprite. Perl's damp hair straggled into her face, making her look more like a drowned null than Turing's chief of security. The two stood there for a moment, just looking at each other.  
  
"What happened last night?" Robin asked eventually, hoping against hope that her suspicions were wrong.  
  
Perl's face crumpled once more, and before she could react, the cadet had collapsed into her arms with an anguished cry. Robin tensed; her instinctive reaction to physical contact. She went to great pains to avoid it, but now this sprite was practically clinging to her, sobbing into her duty armour. She couldn't just push her away.   
  
It confirmed what Robin had suspected. Nothing else could have rendered the hacker so hysterical. She tried her best to respond, awkwardly putting an arm round the young woman's shoulders, trying to quell her growing anger at those responsible. Desperately uncomfortable with the situation she found herself in, she gingerly patted Perl and reached for the hacker's PID.   
  
"Perl..." she vocally prompted, trying to hand her the icon, her growing unease at having the practically naked sprite clinging to her like some kind of energy sea limpet beginning to get the better of her. Perl didn't respond, choosing instead to tighten her grip on the Guardian.   
  
Robin sighed as she realised this tactic wasn't working. OK, she thought, trying to rationalise. We can't stand here like this all second.   
  
"Come on," she said, stepping backwards, gently but firmly pulling the cadet out of the bathroom with her and into the bedroom, whereupon she forcibly pried her away; but not without some mild panic from the sprite, who only let go of her after a reassurance from Robin that she wasn't leaving.   
  
Perl sank onto the bed as Robin shoved the PID into her hand and tapped it for her. She breathed a small sigh of relief as the hacker 'booted into her usual attire. Her sobs had given way to silent tears by now, her amethyst eyes glazed over as she stared at the floor.   
  
Robin's expression softened, but her guilt was starting to well up once more, clutching at her stomach. She should have been there, spammit...   
  
"Perl. You have to tell me what happened," she said, reluctant to put her through this, but knowing she had to get it out of her. Perl's eyes closed.   
  
"I can't..." she murmured. "It hurts so much..."  
  
Robin crouched down in front of her. "Perl, please."  
  
The hacker finally raised her head enough to meet her earnest gaze.   
  
"What's to tell? They - "  
  
"They? How many?" Robin's brow furrowed.  
  
"They must have followed me from the bar..." she paused, reliving it, remembering how they'd taunted her, kicked her, touched her... violated her...   
  
"How many?" Robin repeated, seeing her friend slipping back into her catatonic state. Perl scowled; a glimpse of her usual self creeping back into the pathetic shell.  
  
"What does it matter?" she snapped. "The outcome was the same."  
  
"It matters to me," the Guardian replied. "I want to find out who did this to you." Perl shook her head. Robin narrowed her brown eyes. "Perl! I have to! It's my fault this happened... I have to make it right. Please..."  
  
The cadet glared at her, tears forming once more in her eyes. "It's always about you, isn't it? How you feel! Can't you feel for anyone else but yourself?"  
  
Robin sat back on her heels, stung. For a panicked moment, Perl thought she was going to do what she'd done last night - walk out on her, leaving her alone once more.   
  
"Robin-"  
  
"No..." she faltered, feeling the swell of guilt wash over her again. Could she do nothing right? "I... I deserved that. You're right, Perl. I'm sorry."   
  
She broke the other woman's stare, shame bringing a dark flush of colour to her face. "I just... I..." she struggled for the words, "I just want to help, Perl. I just don't know *how*. I let you down last night... and I feel like this is all my fault. If I'd been there, this never would have happened. I just want to... I don't know. Make up for it...?"  
  
Robin searched Perl's anguished face, looking desperately for some clues. For anything. "I know I come across as cold... I'm not. I'm... inept. I can't deal with people, because I don't know how. Perl, please... let me do something - anything. I've already failed as a Guardian. I don't want to fail as a friend now as well."  
  
Perl wiped her face with the back of her hand. "There's one thing you can do," she said, quietly.   
  
"Name it."  
  
"Don't tell Dennis about this."  
  
Robin recoiled. "What?"  
  
"I mean it! If he finds out... I can pretty much guarantee he'll just bury himself in his work again like he did after Johanna... and I can't handle that."  
  
The Guardian stood, and shook her head. "Perl, we have to find-"  
  
"No!" Perl barked. "If you do anything, Dennis will find out..." She pulled herself back onto the bed, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them protectively, beginning to rock back and forth. Robin reached out to her, but hesitated, then gave up.   
  
"All right, Perl. We do this your way," she sighed. "I'll page Dennis... let him know you're OK..." she trailed off, looking at the cadet. It was a lie, and they both knew it.   
  
"Robin - "  
  
"I'm not leaving," she said, seeing the momentary panic on her friend's face. "But..." she visibly squirmed, "wouldn't you rather he was here? I can't stay here all night."  
  
"I know, I... I'd just rather have you here right now." Perl knew how stupid that sounded, and felt embarrassed as soon as she said it.   
  
"I'll be right back," Robin replied. It would be easier to page Dennis out of direct sight of Perl. Looking at her, she suspected it would be harder, if not impossible, to lie to him if she did it here.   
  
* * *  
  
Dennis jumped, nearly falling backward out of his chair as a vidwindow sprang to life before him. He rubbed at his eyes blearily, remembering why he tried to avoid pulling all-nighters. They always left him wiped the next second. A puzzled look crossed his face as he realized who had paged him.  
  
"Robin? Is something wrong?"  
  
"Uh... no. Look, I found Perl. She's... fine. There was a fight after I left, I guess, but she's okay. She didn't want you to make a fuss over it."  
  
He blinked. "Oh... okay. Robin, can I talk to her?"  
  
The Guardian looked away for a split-nano. "She's sleeping... uh, she just wanted me to let you know she's fine and not to worry."  
  
"All right. Well, don't wake her on my account. Did she tell you what the fight was about?"  
  
Anger rippled across the Guardian's face for an instant. "Same old. They didn't take kindly to having a hacker in their midst."  
  
Dennis sighed. "User... I thought we were through with this spam..." He ran a hand back through his already unruly hair. "Thank you for letting me know what was going on, Robin. I appreciate it."  
  
"Yeah... sure. No problem..." Robin trailed off, and the window snapped shut.  
  
* * *  
  
Robin ran a hand over her face wearily, hoping Dennis had bought her story. He'd seemed to - though she almost wished he'd called her on the lie. Lying wasn't something she was programmed for, and it would have been so much easier to just tell Dennis what was going on. *So you can pawn off the problem on him*, she thought bitterly. Part of it was that, she knew, as much as the thought disgusted her, and part of it was that she didn't believe the ruse would last long. Perl was going to have to pull herself together in a hurry if Dennis was to believe it'd only been a bar fight. Robin cast a glance back into the bedroom at the huddled form of her friend. It certainly didn't seem likely.  
  
"Perl?"  
  
The cadet lifted her head slightly, damp hair a tangle over her eyes. "You called him?"  
  
"I told him you'd been in a fight... at the bar. I said you were sleeping. But... that isn't going to last."   
  
Robin shifted uncomfortably. Perl looked so broken lying there, and she wanted to help, but she had no idea what to do. "Maybe... you should see a doctor?"  
  
"No!" Perl pushed herself upright, wide eyes fixed pleadingly on her companion.   
  
"I... I'll be okay."  
  
"Perl - "  
  
"I *said* I'll be fine. I just..." She looked away, biting her lip. "Just... don't leave me here alone?"  
  
"Maybe we should tell Dennis. He can..."  
  
"He can't know," she whispered, hugging herself. Her eyes seemed fixed to a spot on the wall somewhere off to Robin's left. "He would - I'd lose him then, and..."   
  
Tears welled in the hacker's eyes and she swiped at them with the back her hand. "Dennis is all I have..." She turned away, a sob threatening to break free again. She choked it back, unwilling to let Robin see her this way. But holding it together throughout the day seemed to have sapped all her strength. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw shadowed faces in the dark, harsh voices whispering in her ears. A shudder ran through her unsuppressed, a strangled sob escaping as she collapsed back on the bed.  
  
Robin stood frozen, immobilised by indecision. She had to do something to help Perl, but she didn't know what to do. She was also wary of doing the wrong thing, which, given how utterly unsuccessful the majority of her social interactions were, was bound to happen.   
  
Perl just lay balled up on the bed, sobbing into the pillow, wet hair clinging to her shoulders and the back of her uniform. Awkwardly, Robin reached out and rested a hand on the other woman's shoulder.   
  
"Fine. I won't tell him. But this can't go on, or he's *going* to find out anyway."  
  
Perl sniffled, turning her head so she could look at the Guardian out of the corner of her eye. "I'll be okay. I just... it was too hard to pretend all day and I..." She trailed off. "I'll be okay," she repeated, as though if she said it enough times, it would be true.  
  
"Okay," Robin replied hesitantly, removing her hand and backing off. "Why... why don't you get some downtime? I'll just be in the other room..."  
  
She backed off slowly, hand reaching automatically for the light switch as she reached the door, though thankfully, she remembered in time to keep herself from actually shutting them off. Sending Perl into another round of hysterics was the last thing she needed, after all.   
  
She flopped limply onto the battered couch, running a hand through her hair. She would wait until Perl was asleep, and then maybe she could slip out. The whole situation was making her uneasy - she wasn't sure if she could keep the promise she'd made not to tell anyone about this. Even she could see that keeping this a secret was probably the last thing Perl needed. At the same time, her friend had a point. If Dennis ever knew, the consequences would be devastating. He wasn't likely to take the news lying down, and dealing with the situation would mean revealing it to the entire system. And given how disliked Perl seemed... Robin had to admit to herself that she'd probably feel the same were their positions reversed.   
  
"Wonderful time to develop a conscience," she muttered to herself. Deep down, she feared that this was just the beginning of a mess that would have no quick or easy conclusion...  
  
* * *  
  
(To be continued in Inner Demons, Part 3: Fallout) 


End file.
